A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to pay legal aid organizations money that is owed for the legal defense of unaccompanied children who arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border.
U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin ordered the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement to pay the $65 million owed to legal aid groups subcontracted the Acacia Center for Justice for the defense of unaccompanied children. She gave the government until noon Friday, Aug. 7, to make the payment for the completed work.
Legal aid groups involved in the case celebrated the decision.
"The order today is a vindication for the hard work that non-profits across the country are doing to protect children," Michael Lukens, theExecutive
Director of the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, said. "The government's attempts to not pay for work was a spurious attempt to cut services to children and we are happy that the judge affirmed the injunction."
The federal government has not paid attorneys since December 2025, including to the El Paso-based Estrella del Paso, which is owed $765,000. The lack of payment led to the closure of itsunaccompanied minor defense program on July 31.
There are currently over 20,000 unaccompanied minors who arrived in the United States without a parental guardian who were require legal representation.
Acacia Center for Justice's contract for the defense of migrant children came to an end on July 31. A new contract was made with the Houston, Texas-based Burke Law Group, which was officially published in the Federal Register on Aug. 6.
The Trump administration attempted to end the contract with Acacia Center for Justice in March 2025, but a judge blocked the government's attempt to end the defense fund in April 2025 after they and other legal aid groups, including Estrella del Paso, filed a lawsuit.
Judge Martinez-Olguin ruled that the Trump administration must continue to provide funding for unaccompanied minors because it is required by the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008.
Jeff Abbott covers the border for the El Paso Times and can be reached at:jdabbott@usatodayco.com; @palabrasdeabajo on Twitter or @palabrasdeabajo.bsky.social on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Federal judge orders Trump administration to pay legal aid groups
